Review Blog

Jan 09 2019

Geronimo by David Walliams

Ill. by Tony Ross. HarperCollins, 2018. ISBN 9780008279752
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Humour, Penguins, Difference,
Endeavour, Striving, Perception. When hatched, Geronimo the Emperor
Penguin, just thinks about flying. That's all he wants to do and
spends his waking hours attempting to fly, despite his father among
others telling him that penguins do not fly. Undaunted, he slides
down an ice hill, bounces from the round stomach of a sea lion,
climbs onto the back of an albatross, all without success. His
father really wants him to succeed despite knowing how impossible
his dream is, and thinks back to when he was a boy dreaming the same
dream. He cannot let his son down and calls all the other penguins
together to hatch a plan.
The imaginative plan his father and the other penguins hatch is
simply wonderful, giving the young penguin the feeling of flying,
but in another realm entirely. It will delight younger readers as
they too know the impact of trying to do something which everyone
tells you is impossible.
David Walliams' off beat humour shines through from the name the
penguin is given on the cover, sure to impel many readers to look up
the word and muse on why Walliams has given the animal that
particular name. After that he describes the attempts made by the
penguin, always ending in failure when he lands in the freezing sea
or the deep snow or on an iceberg, each time beautifully supported
and enhanced by Ross' illustrations. Tony Ross brings his own sense
of humour to the setting, as children will love seeing the things
that make the Antarctic unique. Readers will quickly spot an array
of animals and landscapes, made aware of the cold and isolation, as
well as the size of some of the animals found there. The expressions
on the faces of all will entrance younger readers as they work with
Geronimo in trying to make his dream come true.
Fran Knight